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Doubts regarding Subject Areas

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Fabricio_Jorge
Fabricio_Jorge Rank 3 - Community Apprentice
edited Aug 13, 2024 7:05PM in Oracle Analytics Cloud and Server

Hi all,

   OBIEE....: 12.2.1.0.0

   I am entering this new world of OBIEE and some doubts are starting to appear. Here are some of my doubts that i would like to "share" with the most experienced OBIEE experts:

      1) For me to create an Analysis, i first need to create Subject Areas? I mean, is it mandatory? For example, can i create an Analysis directly using a custom query?

      2) A Subject Area, logically speaking, represents several table in a relational database? For example,  have a Sales department, and in my database, i have 10 tables related to Sales, to my Subject Area "SALES" would have 10 folders. This relation is correct?

Thanks in advance for the patience and attention.

Answers

  • rmoff
    rmoff Rank 6 - Analytics Lead

    1. Yes, and no. Yes you *should* have a Subject Area, but you *can* use a Direct Database Request. However this is a Bad Idea because you lose all the benefits of a common metadata layer - the Repository (RPD)

    2. No. Subject areas are built on Business Models (known as the Logical layer), which describe the *logical* relationship of the data - the business' view of it, in a star schema. The Business Model maps to one or more physical tables, which is what you've got in your database. One Business Model can use multiple physical tables.

    OBIEE is a powerful beast, and one that you need a decent grasp of before you start to play with it... you'd be well advised to take some training if you can, and if not start with a good reference like Oracle Business Intelligence 11g Developers Guide: Amazon.co.uk: Mark Rittman

  • Thomas Dodds
    Thomas Dodds Rank 8 - Analytics Strategist

    1) You can send in direct SQL - BUT you circumvent the investment made in the BI stack from Oracle AND you have limited functionality with this approach.  Not recommended.

    2) A subject Area is a representation of the logical (business rules and relationships) model which is based on the physical data model.  So no, just because you have 10 tables has no reflection on Subject Area layout.  Subject Areas should be roughly 'mapped' to a business function or analytical area.

    In short if you are thinking or considering that OBIEE is a query writer it most certainly isn't (though it does write SQL).  OBIEE is built on the premise of a star schema (data warehousing) and functions best when physical and logical models are built to those standards.

    @rmoff beat me to it ...

  • Fabricio_Jorge
    Fabricio_Jorge Rank 3 - Community Apprentice

    Thank you all for the help.

    For me to create a Subject area in OBIEE, must i use Oracle BI Administration tool only? I couldn't find any option to create a Subject area in the Analytics tool. When i try to create a analisys, it prompts me to choose a subject area, only.

    Thanks again for the patience.

  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Rank 2 - Community Beginner

    Yes the Admin Tool is what creates and manages the RPD (repository file) containing all metadata definitions pertaining to your Subject Areas which are based on your business models which are based on your data sources.